Challenge Shot: Endings
by TweenisodeOrange
Summary: Final Halloween Unspectacular Challenge! I'm going back to my old favorite, cartoon characters in a school of magic. This is a continuation of oneshots from previous years, so you have been warned.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey y'all, it's the last year of the Halloween Unspectacular challenge, and this year thinks have been shaken up, and instead of four one-shots, I'm supposed to write one four-part story with the theme "Endings". So, what better way to end this tradition than going back to my favorite idea to stem from the challenge shots, cartoon characters in the American Magical Education System!**

**Endings**

_Chapter 1_

_All good things must come to an end_

"Gentlemen, I've called you all together to rectify a great wrong!"

"This must be serious, sounds like Turner's broken out the Thesaurus." Manny Rivera stage whispered to his compatriots, Jimmy Neutron and Danny Fenton, as the fourth member of their group, Timmy Turner, paced in front of their breakfast table.

"The end of the school year is upon us, and what have we done?"

"Learned how to transfigure a piece of paper into a sheet of steel." Jimmy said proudly.

"Became a total boss at dueling club." Manny added his own achievements.

"Helped the school improve their ghost security." Danny chimed in.

"No! Guys, this is a school of magic!" Timmy shouted in exasperation, "We should be fighting trolls in the dungeon, finding Basilisks in the plumbing, solving mysteries and battling dark wizards!"

The others looked at Timmy for a moment before laughing.

"If you're using Harry Potter's life as your standard, you're setting yourself up for disappointment." Danny said.

"Guys, we have three days to have an awesome adventure!" the pink-hatted boy continued his rant as they all finished eating and headed out to the grounds (Finals were done, so they no longer had classes) "We can't rest! We have to search every nook and cranny of campus, investigate every weird thing, interrogate every…" Timmy trailed off as his eye caught something unfamiliar. "Suspicious person!"

"What the—" A boy with bushy brown hair and a blue trucker hat exclaimed as Timmy pointed an accusing finger in his face.

"You! Who are you? I've never seen you around before, and it's too late in the year for a transfer student! I bet you're a spy!"

"…A spy for what, exactly?" The accused asked in confusion.

"That's what I'd like to know! Talk!" Timmy pulled a green flashlight from nowhere and shined it in the boy's face.

"Back off dude, I've been going to school here for two years!" he pushed the flashlight up and out of his face, right as Danny and Jimmy pulled their friend back.

"Timmy, what the heck's gotten into you?" Danny asked.

"You're being completely illogical Turner." Jimmy reprimanded him "This is a big school. He probably just lives in the dorms on the other side of campus and you've never crossed paths before."

"Hey, sorry, uh…" Manny began to apologize to the stranger before realizing he didn't know his name.

"Dipper." The stranger supplied. Manny failed miserably to hide a fit of giggles.

Jimmy sighed and stepped forward. "I apologize for _both_ my friends. I suppose we're all overly excited for the end of the school year."

"Uh, that's alright, I guess." Dipper replied, not really sure what to make of the situation.

Danny pulled Timmy away as Jimmy handled the diplomacy.

"What the heck was that?"

The boy scuffed his feet on the floor guiltily. "I got carried away, alright? I just really wanna do something awesome with you guys before I have to go back to being miserable in Dimsdale."

The older teen watched his friend walk glumly down the path towards their dorms. He knew Timmy's home life wasn't all that great, that was why the kid had fairies. Maybe Danny could figure out a way to give his friend an adventure before the end of the school year. He just needed to ask for a little help.

* * *

><p>The boys all met up again for lunch later that day. Luckily Timmy hadn't jumped any more students.<p>

"My parents should be arriving later this afternoon for the end-of-year celebrations." Jimmy told his friends excitedly.

"Really?" Danny asked, "My parents told me they wouldn't be able to get in until tomorrow."

The boy genius nodded, "That's because the school is staggering out when families can arrive and leave, so we don't have a mass exodus to the middle of nowhere in Nevada attracting the Muggles' attention."

"Oh. So where are your parents coming Timmy?" The raven-haired teen asked his other friend.

"I dunno. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't show up at all." Timmy said nonchalantly, although the others could tell he cared more than his tone let on.

"Pch, who cares if your folks don't show up?" Manny scoffed, trying to lighten the mood, "You don't need them to have an awesome time at the party!"

"Easy for you to say, both your parents are teachers here, you see them every day!" Timmy said shortly.

Their conversation was brought to an abrupt stop when Danny suddenly sat up straight and gasped.

"What's wrong, man?" Manny asked.

"It's my Ghost Sense. There's a ghost nearby."

Timmy's eyes lit up with excitement. "Where!?"

"But that's impossible!" Jimmy insisted, "You spent the entire first month of school improving the antispectral defenses yourself!"

Danny simply pointed to the northwest corner of the room where, sure enough, they glimpsed the tail end of a ghost just vanish through the wall.

"Oh my gosh!" Timmy jumped up out of his seat. "This is it guys! This is our big adventure!" He immediately ran towards the nearest door, pulling a large pink ecto-pistol out of nowhere.

"Timmy, wait! We need a plan!" Neutron ran after his eager friend.

"Uh, aren't ghosts_ your_ deal, dude?" Manny asked his taller friend, "Shouldn't you be the one chasing after that thing? I mean, Turner could get hurt or something."

"Let him have this, I'm sure he'll be fine." Danny said with a wink.

"Oooooh…" The shorter teen replied with an understanding smirk.

* * *

><p>Timmy and Jimmy burst out of the cafeteria, the latter pulling his wand out while the former already had his pink ecto-pistol trained on the fleeing blur. The boys chased the ghost across the grounds, never quite getting a good look at it. It was fast, and mostly stuck to the shadows. Every now and then it'd go intangible and fly straight through a building, but it wasn't until they reached the main building on campus, the Administration Center, that it stopped.<p>

Jimmy waved his wand, revealing the ectoplasmic trace the ghost had left. One trail going in, no trail going out.

"Come on, let's get that ghost and find out how it got on campus!" Timmy cried, ready to charge in guns a-blazing.

"Are we even allowed in there right now? Aren't they getting ready for the end-of-year festivities?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want a ghost ruining those festivities?"

"Fair point."

The two charged in, statling a few teachers who had been putting up decorations around the doors.

"Alright, where's the ghost!?" Timmy asked excitedly.

"W-whaaat?" Ms. Fowl asked in confusion.

Jimmy sighed and recast the tracer spell, revealing a glowing green path going down the hall towards the stairwell. The two rushed after the trail and nearly tripped down the stairs. There they found their target.

"_Danielle_!?" They gasped.

The young ghost girl grinned sheepishly. "Hi guys."

"What the heck is going on here?" Timmy demanded.

"Well, you wanted an adventure, so Danny figured we'd give you one." She explained. "I'd pretend to be a rogue ghost that got past the shields, and you guys would have to figure out how I did it."

"Solving a 'mystery' made up by our friend out of pity is something of a hollow victory." Jimmy pointed out.

It was at this time that Danny and Manny caught up at their leisurely pace. The ghostly teen started when he saw his cousin talking with the boys. The shorter teen started laughing like a hyena at how horribly the plan was going.

"Danielle, you weren't supposed to let them catch you!" Danny reprimanded her.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

"Hahah, by what? This is an empty stairwell!"

"I thought I saw something, but it's gone now…"

Timmy suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. "What? What did you see?"

Dani looked down, embarrassed. "It was nothing. I thought I saw a gorilla with long hair, but I blinked and it was gone. It was probably just my eyes playing tricks on me."

The bucktoothed boy immediately started feeling around the stairwell for an invisible something. His genius friend sighed and pulled him back up the stairs.

"Give it a rest Turner. Come on, my parents should be here in an hour, I need to get ready."

* * *

><p>Later that day, in the dorms on the south end of campus, Dipper Pines had his head buried in his Intro to Runes book, with another, more worn book lying open at his side and a notebook on his lap. He looked up as two of his dorm-mates entered the common room.<p>

"Hey Dipper, aren't you done with finals?" Phineas Flynn asked as he and his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher flopped onto the couch beside him.

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Then why are you still studying?"

"I'm not studying, this is for a personal project."

"Oh, ok then."

Dipper liked rooming with the Flynn-Fletcher brothers. Phineas and Ferb were both cool and smart, and most importantly, they respected his privacy. He continued comparing symbols in the journal to his Runes book while the two brothers pulled out a stack of blueprints they were preparing for the upcoming summer break. They were all so absorbed in their work they didn't notice someone sneaking up behind them.

"Boo!" A gruff voice yelled as a large, wrinkled hand grabbed Dipper by the shoulder. The boy shot out of the chair with a panicked scream. Phineas and Ferb also jumped, but more due to their friend's extreme reaction.

"Grahahahaha!" Stanford Pines chortled and wiped a tear from his eye, "Hah, still jumpy I see! I shoulda known school wouldn't loosen you up."

"Grunkle Stan, what—" Dipper asked with a breathless laugh, but the old man cut him off.

"Hey-hey, don't be rude, introduce me to your friends here."

"Oh, uh, Phineas, Ferb, this is my great uncle Stanford Pines. Stan, these are two of my roommates, Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Pines." Phineas said cheerily as Ferb waved, "Dipper speaks of you often."

"All lies, I can assure you." Stan said with a grin.

"So what are you even—" Dipper was interrupted once again when the door to the girl's wing opened. There was a squeal of excitement and suddenly his sister Mabel had tackled Stan to the ground.

"Grunkle Stan! Ohmygosh what are you even doing here!?" Mabel asked excitedly as she smothered the old man with hugs.

"Heheh… ow." Stan winced as the twins helped him up. "Yeah, I thought I'd save your folks some money on bus tickets and pick you two up from school myself."

"Yeah right," Mabel elbowed her uncle in his substantial gut, "you just _missed_ us, didn't you?"

"Pft, what? No."

"Yeah! You got lonely with only Soos up there to keep you company! You couldn't wait two more weeks to see us!"

"Yeah yeah…" Stan pulled the twins in for some affectionate noogying.

Phineas smiled at his step-brother, "C'mon Ferb, we'd better give these guys some family time."

* * *

><p>It was well past curfew, and most everyone on campus was in bed. Most, but not all.<p>

"Timmy, I know you're set on having a big adventure before you leave school, but it's so _late_." Wanda complained tiredly as she and Cosmo helped their godson search the stairwell from earlier.

"Exactly!" Timmy replied, "All the best mystery adventurey stuff happens at night!"

"Are you comparing your life to Harry Potter's again?" Cosmo asked.

"Nnnnno." The pink hatted boy quickly slipped _The Prisoner of Azkaban_ back into his backpack.

"Why don't you just wish for an adventure, sport?" Wanda asked.

"You heard Jimmy earlier, that'd totally defeat the purpose! Look, Dani saw something down here, then it disappeared. That sounds worthy of investigation to me."

The two fairies sighed, but continued to use magic to search for any trace of something that could turn invisible or disappear.

"I'm not picking up any traces of house elf dissaparation, or any ghosts other than the Fenton kids." Wanda said after doing a full search.

"Maybe it had an invisibility cloak!" Timmy speculated, "That wouldn't leave any magical residue, would it?"

"A gorilla with an invisibility cloak? Cool!" Cosmo grinned, remembering Dani's description.

"Hang on, that sounds vaguely familiar…" Wanda began to think, but she was interrupted by the sound of someone slamming into the door to the stairwell. The fairies quickly disguised themselves as a pink scarf and a green flashlight.

Timmy cautiously opened the door to find a teenager lying in a heap at the floor on the other side. He was tall with spikey blonde hair. The bucktoothed boy poked the prone figure with his toe.

"M'okay." The teen moaned, slowly sitting up. "Uhg… I got it, right Erika?" He took a closer look at the boy. "Oh, sorry Turner, hit my head pretty hard on that door, thought you were Erika for a sec."

"Who the heck are you!? How do you know my name?" Timmy demanded.

"Oh… well, your reputation precedes you." The mystery guy explained.

"One of the other seniors told you about me?"

"Yeeeah. Who do you know in the senior class?"

"Well… I _kinda_ know Kim and Ron…"

"Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, right._ They _told me about you." The guy smiled to himself, "Heh, they're such a cute couple."

Well, he certainly _seemed_ to know Kim and Ron. A stranger would_ never_ guess they were dating.

"What'd you say your name was?"

"Didn't say. It's Dave Timens, nice to meet you in person Timmy." Dave extended and hand for a friendly shake. Timmy took it cautiously. "You seem tense." Dave said, noting the boy's apprehension. "Good night sleep'll probably help that." He pushed the kid up the stairs. "You really don't want any teachers catching you out this late." He continued to hint.

Timmy sighed and decided to take Dave's advice, for now. He was pretty tired… but first thing he was going to do the next morning was investigate this weird teenager.

Unfortunately, there was a more pressing matter waiting for the bucktoothed boy the next morning. Danny was waiting for him and Jimmy in the common room the next morning with a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Timmy asked.

"Looks like you'll be getting your adventure after all. Manny was attacked by a Erkling last night."

**Author's Note: Bum bum bum! I'm taking alot of inspiration from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" this time around.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Here we have chapter 2… three months after I was supposed to finish this thing. What? I changed the creature at the end of the last chapter? Uh, no, I don't know what you're talking about. :/**

_Chapter 2_

"_It's the end of the world as we know it/ and I feel fine" – R. E. M._

Timmy, Jimmy, and Danny arrived in the nurse's office to check up on their friend. They could hear before they even opened the door that Manny's parents were already there: gasping hyperventilation from his mother Maria and a stern reprimand from his father Rudolpho.

"Mom, I'm _fine,_ it's just a few cuts and bruises where it bit me!" Manny assured his mother.

"Manny, I'm glad that you were able to protect Frida from that beast," His father said patiently, "but the two of you shouldn't have been out of bed that late in the first place!"

The three friends peered into the room. Manny was sitting on the bed with his left arm covered in bandages. His parents were standing on either side of him. A girl with blue hair and red goggles, Manny's best friend Frida, was sitting on a stool in the corner.

"We're lucky that thing ran into this kid first and not some helpless first year." The school nurse said as she finished fastening the bandages. "Erklings _eat_ kids. I doubt someone without super powers would've been able to subdue it. Alright, you're done. Those bandages should kill the saliva from the bite so it won't get infected. Go play with your friends." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder to where the three friends were peeking in the door. They smiled sheepishly.

"What happened?" Timmy asked excitedly as the two teens exited the nurse's office.

Manny rolled his eyes. "I keep telling people, it's not a big deal! It's just some little elf-type thing with a long nose and sharp teeth."

"I'd say it's big deal." Jimmy insisted. "Erklings are native to Germany. How did one get to North America, much less past the wards and shields protecting the school?"

"What, so you're saying that someone smuggled it onto campus?" Frida asked. "Oh, dude! I bet it was the Flock of Fury! Black Cuervo's family arrived last night, and you _know_ she's always hated my guts!"

"I dunno Frida, they usually stick to bird-themed stuff." Manny said. "This doesn't seem like their style."

"Hang on… how late last night did this happen?" Timmy asked.

"Uh, I don't exactly remember. It was way past midnight." Frida replied.

"Oh my gosh! That's around the same time I ran into this really suspicious teenager!"

The others rolled their eyes. "Timmy, it's probably just another student you've never met before." Danny said. "But someone else suspicious showed up last night. Vlad Masters."

"What the heck is he doing here?" The buck-toothed boy asked.

"He made some huge donation to the school, so he's Principal Oldsdotter's special guest." The ghost teen explained "But I bet that's not the only reason he's here.

"Eh, an Erkling doesn't seem like Vlad's style either." Manny pointed out.

"There's only one way to know for sure."

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the news of the Erkling attack to spread through the school. The teachers and administration didn't seem interested in investigating how the beast had gotten into the school. After all, it'd been caught by that Rivera boy, and school would be out in two days anyway.<p>

Some of the students were more interested in the mystery. One of them was Dipper Pines, who was discussing the matter with his sister and his friend Wendy as they wandered around campus

"The attack happened the night after the first group of families arrived for the end of year celebration, which suggests that one of them smuggled the Erkling on to campus." He rambled on, "But who, and more importantly, why?"

The two girls shrugged.

"Maybe you should ask Stan if he saw anything weird when he drove down here." Wendy suggested.

"Yeah, maybe. I haven't had the chance to talk to him since left in the middle of dinner last… night…" Dipper trailed off; a shocking thought had crossed his mind.

Mabel immediately guessed what it was. "Come on Dipper, I know Grunkle Stan is a lying, cheating, mysterious old man, but do you seriously think he'd let dangerous creatures loose in the school?"

"Weeeeeeeeeeelllll…"

"He would if he thought he could make a profit off it." Wendy said flatly.

"Exactly." Mable replied, "What could Stan possible stand to gain from letting weird exotic monsters run around?"

As luck would have it, they were passing in front of the nurses' building when the door opened. Stan Pines and the head nurse stepped out, chatting.

"You're lucky I carry this stuff. Runespoor antivenom ain't easy to come by." The old man said.

The nurse nodded. "I'll say. It would've taken much too long to order from our supplier." She handed him a wad of bills. "Even if it would have been a lot cheaper." She added under her breath. "I can't believe this kind of thing happened _again_ though. First the Erkling and now a _Runespoor_ attack? This is unlike anything I've ever heard of."

Stan turned to see the three youngsters staring at him. "Oh, hey kids! I gotta go make a deposit." He said, holding up the cash, "I'll see ya at lunch."

"…It's him." Dipper said flatly once his great uncle had walked out of ear-shot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Principal Oldsdotter is "World's Oldest Woman" from Histeria! As played by Tress MacNeill. I should have the next chapter up in a few hours.**

_Chapter 3_

_"And when it's over/Is it really over?" - Sugar Ray_

Vlad Masters cast a cautious glance up and down the hall. The coast was clear. He slipped into the foot-traffic. Act casual, blend in.

"Oh Vladdie-poo!" An extremely old woman covered in wrinkles, stepped around the corner and called to him. Vlad flinched. He _knew_ he should have turned invisible and just flown out, but she probably would have been able to detect that with magic, and then he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

"Principal Oldsdotter," Vlad said with barely concealed impatience, "_please_, for the thirty-third time, call me Mr. Masters."

"Alright, _Mr. Masters_." The elderly principal said with a sly wink. Vlad shuddered. "I just wanted to check up on you after our date last night."

"My dear madam, that was not a_ date_, it was a _professional dinner_." Mr. Masters insisted.

"Sure, sure." She replied with a chuckle.

Vlad looked desperately up and down the hall for something, _anything_ to get him out of this situation.

"Vlad!" a familiar impudent voice called out from across the hall. The older half ghost breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, Daniel." He said with a smirk, "I'm sorry Principal, I have to take this. He's the son of my best friends from college, rather fond of his 'Unkie Vlad'. Don't bother waiting for me." With that he darted away.

Danny was rather surprised with how quickly Vlad abandoned his conversation with the principal and crossed the hall to talk with him. He was expecting a little more resistance to questioning.

"What are you playing at Vlad?" The teen ghost demanded, deciding to get right down to business.

"I was in an awkward situation and you were my way out, there's nothing wrong with that!" He snapped.

"Not whatever you were talking about with the principal." Jimmy clarified, "We're referring to the creature attacks that have been occurring since last night, which is just a few hours after you arrived at the school."

Vlad looked the kids over with disdain. "You think I'd get involved with something ridiculous like that?"

"Uh, not really." Manny admitted, but the others just glared back at Masters.

"Well, I have an alibi. I was in a schoolboard meeting during the Runespoor attack, which we had to cut short, mind you, and I was having dinner with the Principal at the time of the first attack."

"That late at night?" Timmy asked.

"Believe me, I would have rather been out smuggling dark elves onto the grounds."

"Nice try Vlad, but we know you can split yourself as many times as you need." Danny countered. "An alibi doesn't work if you can be in two places at once."

The older half-ghost sighed in exasperation. "Believe it or not, my world does not revolve around _you_ and your little friends, Daniel. I _do_ have a multimillion dollar business to run and a reputation as a philanthropist to keep. What could I possibly stand to gain from letting dangerous creatures loose in a school?"

No one had an answer for him.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to leave early. I don't want any more encounters with Principal Oldsdotter."

* * *

><p>"Dude, I told you Vlad didn't make any sense." Manny said to a slightly disappointed Danny as they made their way to dinner.<p>

"But now we don't have any idea of who's behind the attacks!" Danny said dejectedly.

"Sure we do, there's that weird guy I saw last night!" Timmy reminded them. The others groaned.

"For the last time Turner, it was just some random student." Jimmy insisted.

"But he was acting really weird!" Timmy insisted back. He glanced across the cafeteria and spotted a young couple eating together, giving him an idea. "Look, I can prove he was weird. This guy told me his name was Dave Timens, and he said he knew Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. You know, those two seniors who are always doing stuff? If I ask them if they know him and they say 'no', it'll prove that there's something suspicious about him!"

His friends shrugged, but that was enough to send Timmy off to look for the odd couple. It took a lot of searching. The cafeteria was nearly empty by the time he found them, but he eventually caught the two just as they were leaving.

"Hey!" The buck toothed boy called out to them.

"Hey…" Ron said in confusion, turning to look at the stranger. "Weren't you in that class we did the bogart demonstration for?"

"Yeah! Can I ask you a weird question?"

"…About bogarts?"

"No. Do you know anyone named Dave Timens?"

The two teens looked at each other.

"I don't, do you?" Kim asked.

"Nope. I know a Dave _Pilkey_…"

"Ron, you do not _know_ Dave Pilkey."

"Well I read his_ books_."

"Sorry, we don't know him. Why do you want to know?" Kim asked. But Timmy was already gone.

* * *

><p>Timmy was running back to partake in a good 'I told you so' when he passed a closed door with strange lights and shouting coming from inside. He cracked open the door and took a peek. It was the teenager from before! And he wasn't alone! There was a girl of about the same age with him. They looked similar, giving Timmy the impression they were related. They stood on opposite sides of a glowing ball of blue energy.<p>

"They keep on getting worse the more people show up!" The girl shouted over the crackling of the energy ball. "It's like half the people here are walking time anomalies!"

"So what are we supposed to do, evacuate the school?" Dave asked, also shouting.

"But that would ruin their end of year celebration!" The girl replied, "They were gonna have a dance and a banquet and everything!"

"I dunno, if someone told me I could leave school a couple of days early, I'd be happy."

It was this time that Timmy chose to reveal himself. "Aha!" He threw the door wide open and strode right up to the teenage boy, with Cosmo and Wanda floating above him as back up, "I've caught you red-handed villain!"

The two teens stared at the intruder blankly. "What." Dave said flatly.

"I have proof!" The boy continued, "You said you were friends with Kim and Ron, but they'd never even heard of you!"

"Well they are my friends, in another timeline." The teen explained.

"David!" The girl hissed at him.

"Oh come on Erika, our cover is already blown to bits." He brushed her off and continued, "We're time travelers. That's how I recognized you the other night. In another timeline I already know you."

"Time travelers who are attacking the school with magical creatures!" Cosmo accused, "For some reason…"

"We're not attacking the school, we're trying to fix the problem!" Erika exclaimed indignantly, gesturing to the blue ball of energy. "Do you want _more_ dangerous animals to come out of this portal?"

"How did these portals even start in the first place? And why do dangerous monsters come out of them?" Wanda asked.

"Long story short: Someone dropped a copy of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' in a temporal vortex." Dave explained.

"That makes perfect sense!" Cosmo said, satisfied.

"Well it's a lot more complicated than that…" Erika said, but before she could explain, the portal began to glow brighter. It crackled louder than ever before, with little sparks of electricity shooting out. "Oh _no,_ we almost had it closed."

Dave pulled Timmy and her away from the portal. "Well it's too late now! There's no way we'll be able to close the portal before it comes out, and we have no idea—"

The sparks concentrated into a vague, sheet-like shape, which then consolidated into a shadowy cloak, hovering just a few centimeters off the ground.

"Lethifold." Dave breathed. Erika nodded. "Crap." Dave muttered under his breath. The monster was between them and the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, sorry this took me so long to finish. I was busy with school and what not. I was also lazy. **

_Chapter 4_

"_We cannot see the end from the beginning/ we cannot comprehend/ all the journey has in store" _

– _Joy in the Journey_

Dipper Pines had been uneasy since coming to his conclusion about Stan. He'd been keeping an eye on the old man in hopes of preventing him from releasing any more monsters, and so far it seemed to be working. That is until the boy lost track of his great uncle, making him even more uneasy.

"Dipper, if you're worried about Grunkle Stan, just ask him if he has something to do with the attacks." Mable advised her brother.

"Mabel, if he _is_ behind it, he's not gonna tell us just because we asked!"

"Ask who about what?" Stan asked, startling the twins. Judging by the toilet paper stuck to his shoe he'd just returned from the restroom.

Dipper stammered nervously, but his sister cut right to the chase. "Grunkle Stan, Dipper thinks you're the one letting dangerous monsters into the school."

"Mabel!"

"Grahahahaha!" Stan chortled, "Yeah, right! If it was me, I'd do a lot better job cleaning up, I can tell ya that!"

"Well then why did the attacks start right after you showed up?" Dipper asked, finding his words again.

"What, you don't _seriously_ think I'd let a bunch of monsters into the school just to make a quick buck?" Stan asked indignantly, "I would _never_ senselessly endanger so many people… over a measly hundred dollars."

"Then why did you just happen to have Runespoor antivenom with you?" Dipper continued to interrogate the old man.

"I just so happen to carry a lot of stuff with me."

"And what were you doing when you left dinner?" He was becoming more confident with each question.

"Boring old man biz, now get off my back!" Stan turned to his niece, "Mabel, you don't buy any of this do you?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Mmmmmm, I dunno, neither of you really have any evidence to back up your claims."

"I can't believe you ingrates!" Stan threw his arms up in the air and stormed off.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you left the door open!" Dave groaned breathlessly as he, Erika, and Timmy chased after the Lethifold. But as they left the cafeteria they could see no trace of it.<p>

"I can't believe that thing didn't go after us instead, we were easy prey!" Erika exclaimed.

"I didn't know there'd be a monster!" Timmy defended himself. "How do we stop that thing?"

"The only thing that can stop a Lethifold is a Patronus charm." Wanda said, remembering her own magical education.

"Great, you guys are seniors, you can do a Patronus charm!" Timmy said, looking at the two teens hopefully.

"Yeeeeeeeeah." Dave said slowly, "Here's the thing. Not a wizard."

Timmy and Wanda both facepalmed. "And let me guess, you're not a witch?" He asked Erika.

"I'm sorry." She replied sheepishly.

"Well that's just great! Now what do we do?"

"Well obviously we need to warn the staff, they'll probably be able to handle the Lethifold." Dave said. "But we also need someone to close that time portal so we don't have to deal with any more monsters on top of this one." Someone gave a panicked scream nearby. "And someone definitely needs to go check on_ that_." He added, running towards the scream. "Erika, come on!"

"Well, I guess that leaves me to go warn the teachers." Timmy said with a touch of disappointment as he watched the teens run off.

"And us to close the portal!" Cosmo added jovially. Wanda sighed. This was not going to be easy.

* * *

><p>After the excitement of the argument had died down, Dipper felt a little guilty for fighting with Grunkle Stan like that.<p>

"Come on Dipper, don't you trust Stan?"

Mabel wasn't really making him feel any better.

"Well, with some things yeah, but not with everything! Like how you won't trust him alone with Waddles anymore."

"Yeaaaaaaaaah…" Mabel admitted.

"He lies to us all the time!" Dipper exclaimed with an edge of bitterness in his voice.

"But I don't think he's lying to us about this. I may not be the one who reads all the detective stories, but when you think about it, it doesn't make sense for Stan to be the one behind the monster attacks."

"Maybe you're right." He admitted, "Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions."

The twins' talk was cut short when a shadow jumped out at them. They screamed. Luckily a whole summer of dealing with monsters made them experts at dodging and running from various dangerous creatures, but this one was fast.

"What is that thing?" Mabel asked in a panic.

"A Lethifold!" Dipper gasped. "They smother you and then swallow you whole!"

"Well how do we stop it!?"

"Uh…" Dipper turned and pointed his wand at the creature. "_Lumose Maxima_!" A blinding beam of light erupted from the tip of his wand, but it barely fazed the thing. "You wouldn't happen to know the Patronus charm and just never told me, would you?"

"You're the one who's good at charms!" Mabel shouted in exasperation.

They turned a corner in the hall and came face to face with a couple of teenagers who looked almost as panicked as the twins.

"Did it eat anyone yet?!" Dave asked.

"No, but it's about to!" Dipper exclaimed.

As if on cue, the Lethifold shot around the corner. It reared up to cover the four young people, when suddenly a buffalo-shaped Patronus charged right into it. There was an unearthly shriek as the monster dissipated into smoke.

"Is everyone ok?" Stan Pines looked around the corner to see four stunned faces staring at him.

"Grunkle Stan!?" Dipper exclaimed, "Was that… was that _your _Patronus?"

"Yeah." Stan said shortly, "Are you ok?" he repeated sternly.

"I-I'm fine." Dipper stammerd.

"I'm ok." Mabel said breathlessly.

"Well I had the air scared out of my lungs, but I think I'll recover." Dave said dryly, "Not that anyone's asking."

"Dave, don't be rude!" Erika elbowed her cousin.

"Alright, _where the heck_ did that thing come from?" Stan demanded.

"Sorry." Erika said sheepishly. "It's our fault. We had a problem with a temporal vortex and a book. Long story."

"Speaking of which, we need to go get that portal closed before we have a dragon or something on our hands." Dave said, and he dashed back to the cafeteria.

Erika groaned "Uhg, why do you have to _run_ everywhere?"

* * *

><p>The time travelers were surprised to find Timmy with the Principal. They were even more surprised to find Cosmo and Wanda had closed the portal, and were holding a tattered copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".<p>

"How did you...?" Dave asked, astonished.

"Well it wasn't easy." Wanda said. "We had to go into the portal and get past a lot of magical creatures to get to the book, but once we did that the portal closed on itself and we just _poofed_ back here."

"You… went into the portal!?" Erika asked, bewildered. "Are you two crazy?"

"You're lucky you got out alive." Dave said, slack-jawed.

"Well, I had Cosmo to protect me." Wanda smiled, gesturing to a battered and bruised Cosmo.

"Take that Meat Loaf!" The green fairy said hoarsely, "I would do anything for love _including_ that! Hah!" He suddenly bent over and clutched his stomach. "Oh my spleen!"

"So there aren't going to be any more monsters appearing out of nowhere?" Principal Oldsdotter asked.

"There shouldn't be, no." Dave assured here.

"And somebody already killed the Lethifold?"

"Yep."

"So basically," The old woman turned to Timmy, "You pulled me out of my office for nothing."

Timmy smiled sheepishly.

* * *

><p>The following night was the end-of-year banquet, followed by a school dance. Timmy was very proud of himself for getting involved in solving the mystery of the monster attacks, even if, as Jimmy was quick to point out, he did next to nothing.<p>

"If anything you made things worse by interrupting the time travelers while they were trying to close the portal and leaving the door open." The fudge-haired boy concluded.

"You're just jealous because I got to have a great big adventure this year and you didn't!" Timmy said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, because a few minutes of chasing after a Lethifold and then going to get the Principal is totally a big adventure." Manny snickered.

"TIIIIIIIMMY!" A pair of voices called behind the friends.

"Mom, Dad?" The bucktoothed boy asked in surprise. "You actually came!"

"Oh you bet son!" Mr. Turner said cheerfully. "We'd never miss a chance to come see your magic school!"

"I can't wait to try some of their magic party favors!" Mrs. Turner said gleefully.

"Oh man, I can't wait to show you guys all my new friends and all the cool spells I learned and—they're gone already." Timmy watched his parents run out onto the dance floor to investigate the magic dance. "Well, better late than never."

Danny placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, it's ok! Your parents showing up is more than you expected, and you got your end of the year adventure! That sounds like a pretty good ending to me."

"Eh, it's a start." Timmy said.

**THE END**


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